Fornell's Last Will and Testament
by ShadowfaxRunner
Summary: FBI Agent Fornell dies and leaves Gibbs his firstborn daughter, Piper. Rated T for violence. It's NCIS, duh.
1. Gibbs Copes With A Death

_Fornell's daughter shows up at NCIS…this can't be good._

**I own nothing except Piper. I have no clue who NCIS belongs to….**

_Jethro Gibbs stared at the still form of his friend and partner, FBI agent Fornell. They had been investigating the kidnapping of a Navy SEAL who was suspected of murder when the captor pulled a gun on Fornell. Gibbs had shot him, but only a second too late. Fornell had been mortally wounded. His last words were: "Take care of…"_

Gibbs guessed this meant "Take care of it/him" but nothing could have prepared him for this.

The phone rang, waking him up. He looked at his watch. 9:32. "_Crud_," He thought, "_Late for work_." (When had that ever happened?)

He picked up his cell, "Yeah, Gibbs," he said, rubbing his eyes.

"Leroy Jethro Gibbs?" A woman's voice responded.

"Yeah, who's this?"

"Good morning, Mr. Gibbs, my name is Susan Collins, I'm an attorney with the firm of Corner&Sampton, and I've called to inform you that you've been named in the will of Tobias C. Fornell. The will reading is this Saturday at three p.m. Please be there."

"Uh, yeah, sure. I wonder what he left me."

"I'm sorry sir; I can't let you know that until Saturday."

"Right, see you then."

Gibbs hung up and shook his head. "What on earth could he have let me?" He wondered aloud.

He rubbed his eyes and leaned back when a number flashed across his mind: _9:32_.

"CRUD!" He shouted and leapt out of bed and rushed to get ready.

When he finally arrived at work, agents Ziva David, Anthony "Tony" DiNozzo, and Timothy McGee were staring at him.

"What?" He said, and they all mumbled replies and got back to work.

"McGee, did you get a lead on the forger we're after?"

"Yeah, boss, we're in the process of tracking his cell, and he's at NorthStar Bank on First Street. And Abby said she's got something on his hard drive. She sounded excited."

"If you know where that dirt bag is, why are you still here?"

"Right boss, you coming?"

"No, I'll stick around here and see what Abby wants."

As the three (Ziva DiNozzo and McGee) went outside, Ziva whispered, "Since when has he done that?"

"Not that I know of," said Tony, "Maybe it has something to do with Fornell."

"It has everything to do with Fornell!" Gibbs shouted, "Now stop yakking and get going!"

"Right boss." The three scurried out.

Gibbs went downstairs to see Abby.

"Hey Abs."

"Gibbs!" She ran over and hugged him. "I'm so sorry about Fornell. But this might cheer you up." She turned and pulled up a list of numbers.

"What is that?"

"It's numbers."

"I got that, what do they mean?"

"Oh right, so when buildings are, well, built, each buildings records a certain number corresponding with each building. This is a list of every building this guy has stolen from." **(AN: That's not real, I'm just making it up so he could see Abs)**

"So?"

"So, it shows the ones he's going to steal from, along with dates and times. The next one is…NorthStar Bank in about twenty minutes."

"Good work Abs." He fished his cell out of his pocket. "DiNozzo, you've got twenty minutes to catch this guy. Go!"

**There's the first chapter. Please review!**


	2. The Reading of the Will

**Here we go with chapter 2! I don't own NCIS**

"Welcome, everyone. Shall we begin?" The woman who had called Gibbs addressed "everyone". There were three people in the room: Gibbs, Fornell's ex-wife and Fornell's sixteen-year-old daughter, Piper.

Gibbs noticed Piper drumming her fingers on the table to the beat of her iPod.

When the girl sensed people staring at her, she took it off and mumbled an apology. Her eyes were red and puffy. But other than that, her face showed no emotion.

"Let us proceed," The attorney began to read:

"_The Last Will and Testament of Tobias C. Fornell:_

_Well, if you're reading this, I must be dead. I told God, I either wanted to be shot, or die in my sleep. I hope He listened._

_Anyway, to my ex-wife, Katie, I give you the contents of this envelope: _(Here the attorney slid a white envelope over to Katie. Inside was a picture of their family, torn in half the night she left, and taped back together).

_To my daughter, Penelope, or Piper, whichever, (You know I've always loved Penelope, but you wouldn't have any of it, and insisted on being called Piper) anyway, I leave you all the money I have, to be kept in a bank account for your college fund. I also leave you my red convertible Porsche. That is still my favorite car, please, don't scratch it!_

_You also have first dibs on any of my material possessions. The house is to be sold, and the money put into your college fund. You're good at forensics, girl, don't waste your smarts._

_Gibbs, I bet you're wondering why you're here. You're my closest friend. You're my partner. You're someone I can trust with my greatest possession: My daughter, Piper. I am hereby giving you full custody of her, take care of her, teach her, and give her a job at NCIS. You'll be amazed at what she can do with a computer and a microscope._

_Signed and dated:_

_TOBIAS C. FORNELL_

_3/18/12"_

The attorney set down the document.

Katie left in a huff.

Gibbs stared at his new dependant.

Piper wiped a tear from her eye.

"I'll leave you two alone for a bit," Said the attorney.

Gibbs waited, trying to think of something to say but Piper beat him to the punch.

"He was my best friend. He used to let me tagalong with him at the bureau. He taught me how to take care of myself. I don't know what I'm gonna do!" She began to cry softly.

Gibbs touched her arm, "Hey," he said, "It gonna be alright. We'll help you."

"We?"

**I can't tell if I'm relieved or worried for Piper. Why? Gibbs is her GAURDIAN! Review please!**


	3. Meeting the Team

**Well, it looks like I will finally be able to finish this fic. I do not own NCIS, only the random characters off the top of my head.**

Piper walked into NCIS with Gibbs and strode into the center of the team.

"Uh, boss?" DiNozzo questioned.

"Team," Gibbs responded, "This is Piper, Fornell's daughter. Piper, this is Tony DiNozzo, Ziva David, and Timothy McGee."

Piper nodded a hello.

"Wait," Ziva said, "I thought Fornell's daughter's name was Emily?"

"I'm his first kid," Piper said, "From his first marriage."

"Why aren't you in school?" McGee said.

Piper nodded at her backpack, "Homeschooled."

Gibbs' phone rang, he nodded and then said, "Grab your gear; dead Marine at Quantico."

"Can I come, Gibbs?"

"Nope, it's illegal for minors to do field work. You stay and do school. Probationary agent Dorneget will show you around."

Piper reached to grab her bag, bending over and suddenly said out loud, "Stop staring at my butt, DiNozzo."

She whirled around just in time as Gibbs head-slapped him. Piper laughed and sat down at Gibbs' desk. The team gasped.

"What?"

"Piper," Gibbs said, "Take DiNozzo's desk."

"Hey!" DiNozzo yelled.

"Sorry, Tony," she said, batting her eyes.

Right before Gibbs got in the elevator, he turned and shouted back to Piper, "You'll be working with Abby Scuito in the lab. Have Dorneget introduce you to everyone."

"Okay!" She yelled back.

When the team left a tall man in his early thirties walked up to Piper, "Piper? I'm Probationary Agent Dorneget."

"Hey."

"DiNozzo just texted me and told me I'm supposed to introduce you to everyone."

"Yeah, but I already know Vance. He and my dad were friends."

"Okay, let's um, head down to autopsy."

"Cool!"

Dorneget led her to the elevator and pressed the button for autopsy. When they got down there, Ducky and Palmer were examining a body.

"Dr. Mallard?" Dorneget said.

"Yes? Oh, who is this?"

"This is Piper, Fornell's kid."

"Well, hello, dear. My name is Donald Mallard, but everyone calls me Ducky. This is my assistant Jimmy Palmer."

"Hi. Can I see what you're doing?"

"Why of course!" Ducky led her over to a body on the table.

"What's his name?"

"Lieutenant Commander Jason Forbes."

"How did he die?"

"We're not quite sure yet," Jimmy spoke for the first time, "We found this object in his nose."

He handed her a glass evidence jar. Inside was a small spike.

"Can I see that magnifying glass, Ducky?"

"An inquisitive one aren't you? Here you go."

Piper pondered the object for a moment before speaking again, "It's an earring."

"What?" Jimmy said.

Piper pulled out the black stud in her ear, "Look, not at the charm Jimmy, but at the spike. It's identical. For some weird reason, this guy has part of an earring in his nose."

"The plot thickens," Ducky said, "You had probably get going, Miss Scuito will have my head if she doesn't meet you."

Piper laughed, "'Kay."

Dorneget led her out and to the elevators and pressed the button for the lab.

When they got up there, Piper was surprised that the forensic scientist at NCIS was a goth.

"Hi Dornie! Ooh! Who's this?"

"Dornie?" Piper nudged Dorneget.

"Uh, Abby, this is Piper. She's Fornell's kid."

"Hi! I'm Abby! Gibbs told me you're gonna be hanging with me. I hope you like metal music!"

"Uh, yeah, I do. I'm on a competitive dance team and we dance to everything from the Beach Boys to Demon Hunter."

"I love Demon Hunter!"

"Yeah, they're pretty great."

"Well, I have a meeting with agent Connors," Dorneget said, "I'd better get going."

As Dorneget left, Gibbs walked in, "Abs, run these prints."

"Caf-Pow!?"

"Not today."

"Gibbs! You always, without fail, never ever ever ever ever ever ev—"

"ABBY! Not today."

Gibbs left hurriedly.

Abby stared at Piper, "He's not normally like this."

"It's just me. I remind him of my dad."

"Oh. On a lighter note, you said you're on a dance team?"

"Yeah, we have a competition in three weeks."

"Cool! Can you show me some moves?"

"Well, most of them are partner—"

"Partner! You do partner dance?"

"Sometimes. This competition is solely for partners. Me and my friend Tyler dance together."

"Friend?" Abby winked.

"YES! Just a friend. He's asked me out a couple times, but I don't really want to kill our friendship."

"That excuse sucks."

"Major, I know. All the other dancers have told me so."

Abby grinned, "Show me some moves."

"Well, for our song by Stellar Kart, Whole New World, my part starts out like—"

"You would do it without me?" The girls whirled to see a tall, muscular guy with dark hair and blue eyes standing in the doorway with a NCIS visitor's pass.

"Hey Tyler."

Tyler walked over and touched her shoulder, "You doing okay, Piper?"

"I'm fine."

"Yeah, fine. Thought so."

"Anyways," Piper elbowed him in the ribs and pulled out her iPod, "Here's the song."

She plugged it into the computer and the pop/rock song started. Tyler danced in front of Piper, with her following his movements, like he was leading her somewhere. Then a female voice started and Piper spun in Tyler's arms and he lifted her above his head and she landed on both feet. At the end of the song as the electric guitar got louder and louder Tyler spun her out and she twirled around and around until the music stopped and she had her hands on Tyler's chest and his on her hips.

"Wow! That was so cool!" Abby screeched.

"Thanks," Piper removed her hands from Tyler's chest just as Abby's computer blipped.

"Ooh! I got a ding!"

"What is it?" Tyler said.

"Tyler," Piper grinned, "You hate forensics…and the fact that I'm smarter than you."

"Shut up," he slugged her in the shoulder.

"The prints belong to a First Lieutenant Jared Arrons," Abby said.

Piper went ashen.

"Pip, you okay?" Tyler asked.

"Yeah, I just had a, uh, friend who was a First Lieutenant."

"Oh," Abby said, "Okay. I gotta call Gibbs."

She picked up the phone and relayed the news.

"You better go, Tyler. I don't know how Gibbs will react to the fact that there's a guy here." Piper pointed out.

"Okay, I'll pick you up at four for practice."

"Okay."

**Well, there you go. Review please!**


	4. Piper Interviews a Murder Suspect

"Gibbs, wait!" Piper shot down the hall after the silver-haired agent.

He spun around, very angry, "WHAT?"

"Gibbs, don't go in there. Let me interview Arrons."

"Why the heck would I let you do that?"

"He has PTSD, right?"

"Yes, that's why we think he murdered his friend."

"I can get him to admit it."

"No you can't."

"For Pete's freaking sakes Gibbs, let me try!"

"WHY?"

"Marines can lie and swear around guys, but they wouldn't dare swear or lie to a woman. You know that."

"So we'll send Ziva in."

"Oh that's just brilliant. Let's just send a Middle Eastern chick in to a marine who served two years in Iraq with PTSD!"

"Fine! But if you can't get him to talk, I will."

"Deal."

Piper stepped into interrogation with her head held high. As she walked in, she looked at the marine, and showed him her right palm.

"Remember me, Marine?"

"Yes, ma'am," First Lieutenant Arrons' voice shook as he spoke.

"Good. Now, one of the guys in your barracks, Private First Class Nelson Thomas, was murdered three days ago. His body is down in autopsy. Do you want to see it?"

"No ma'am."

"I didn't think so. You were there the night he died. You want to tell me what happened?"

Arrons didn't speak.

Piper slammed her hand onto the table and shouted, "I said do you want to tell me what happened, Marine?!"

"He called you a whore ma'am."

"He called me a whore?"

"Yes ma'am. I have your school picture in my wallet, and was looking at it and he called you a whore."

"So you punched him."

"No ma'am! I just told him to shut up."

"Did he?"

"No ma'am."

"So then you punched him."

"No ma'am! I got off my bunk, looked him in the eye and said shut up."

"Did he then?"

"No ma'am."

"So then the fight started?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Who threw the first punch?"

Arrons didn't speak.

"I said who threw the first punch, Marine?!"

"I did, ma'am."

"And why did you do that?"

"I had to protect you ma'am."

"Do you really think I need protection?"

"That's my job as your older brother, ma'am. To protect you."

"Well, I thank you for that, but I am quite able of protecting myself. Tell me about what happened that night."

"We were fighting and he threw a good punch at my jaw. I fell back and grabbed the bunk next to me for support. He started kicking me," Arrons pulled up his shirt revealing a huge bruise that covered half of his side, "And my buddy James, when he saw I was down, ran up and grabbed him by the back of the neck. He slammed his head into the bunk railing I was holding onto. I think I blacked out after that."

"What's your friend's name?"

Arrons didn't move.

"Look," Piper leaned across the table, "If you don't speak now, your entire career is ruined. Are you really going to throw your life away for something you didn't do? If you don't answer me, Marine, we'll have everything we need to send you to Leavenworth."

"Lance Corporal James Reme."

"Thanks," Piper grabbed her stuff and Arrons grabbed her arm.

"When's it my turn, ma'am?"

"Soon, Lieutenant."

She walked out and was stopped by Gibbs. "He didn't do it Gibbs."

"He clearly has PTSD. His mind is skewed. He did it."

"No! He doesn't have PTSD. He didn't do it!"

"He thinks you're his little sister, Piper! Of course he has PTSD!"

"I am."

"What?"

"I am his little sister. My idiot mother Katie married his dad before my dad. When she got him on weekends, she had me too. We grew up together, Gibbs. He was closer to me than she was. When he was twelve and I was six we each made a little mark on our right hands," she held up her hand, which in the center was a small gray scar, "And swore to tell each other the truth…forever."

"I don't believe you."

Piper walked back into interrogation and came back a minute later with Arrons' wallet. She opened it and showed Gibbs the photo of her in one of the slots.

"Believe me know?"

"Gibbs Gibbs Gibbs!" Abby charged down the hallway.

"What, Abs?" Gibbs said.

"He didn't do it!" She held up the railing, "If he had really murdered his friend, his prints would be here," she gestured towards an area of the metal, "But they're not, they're here!" She pointed to a second area, "This is where he would be if he had—"

"Fallen," Gibbs said.

"Exactly! I found a second set of prints and ran them through AFIS and got a match!"

Gibbs shook his head, "Lance Corporal James Rere."

"How did you know?" Abby said.

"I found out." Piper said. "Arrons told me…I mean, my brother told me."

"That's why you were white when I told you who the prints were!"

"Yep."

"So you actually have an older brother?" Gibbs asked.

"Yeah, our visits were mostly to see each other. Katie was never around. She was always off with her boyfriend. Even when he turned eighteen and I was still twelve, he still kept coming back. Until he was deployed, that is. After that, I got the judge to revoke her parental rights."

"That bad?" Abby said.

"Worse."

"Well," Gibbs said, "You're with us now."

"Anything's better than Katie."

"Why don't you call her your mom?" Abby asked.

"A good mom wouldn't up and leave her husband and kid for some younger guy with more cash."

"Good point."

Just then Jared walked out of interrogation with DiNozzo. He ran towards Piper and they embraced. Piper's shoulders shook with sobs. Jared felt it and pushed her back, until his hands were on her shoulders, "What's wrong Piper?" He asked.

"My dad's dead."

"What?"

"Fornell, my dad, he was killed trying to save someone."

"I'm so sorry," Jared pulled her into a hug again.

Gibbs watched as he once again got the feeling of watching a family reunite.


	5. Gibbs Gets a DogAgainst His Will

CHAP 5

**So sorry about updating but between school and the other two fics, plus my original novels, I've been a bit busy. I don't own NCIS or No Easy Day.**

Piper turned the key in the front door lock of her former house with Fornell.

"You want me to wait out here?" Gibbs said.

"Nah, you can come in." Piper was going to be getting a few things of Fornell's to keep as keepsakes.

She slipped in through the door and breathed in the smell of her old house. The first place she went was into Fornell's room. She picked up his silver watch, a framed picture of him with her, and his wedding ring. She strung the ring around a silver chain around her neck, and slipped on his watch. She went back out and handed the frame to Gibbs. Then she went into the closet and pulled down a box.

"Ready," she said.

"What's in the box?" Gibbs asked.

"Photos. Mostly me and Dad, but some of our other stuff."

A dog barked.

"Ranger?" Piper called. She trotted around the door, to see a large German shepherd, "Ranger!"

"Who's Ranger?"

"Dad's dog. He would take him to the bureau all the time for company. It's not technically against the rules, but it's pretty frowned upon by his boss. I thought he left him there the night he died." Piper reached down and petted the dog.

"No." Gibbs said when she looked at him.

"Why not, Gibbs? He reminds me so much of dad! Please!"

"No. I don't like dogs."

Piper whispered to the dog, "Convince him, Ranger," he meandered over to Gibbs and rubbed against him, licking his hand.

"No." Gibbs said.

Piper fished out her cell and punched a couple numbers. After a minute she spoke, "Hey Abby. I just found my dad's dog. Could you possibly convince Gibbs to let me keep him?" Piper grinned and handed the phone to Gibbs.

"You play dirty." He snapped.

"I learn from the best."

Gibbs took the phone. He grunted for a few minutes then snapped it shut. "You win. Keep the dog."

Right as it shut, it rang again.

"Hello?" Piper said. "Hey, Diane…No, I'm fine…I'm with Gibbs…Dad gave him custody…Yes, the judge approved it…No, I don't want to stay with Katie…I'm working at NCIS with Abby…Yes, the Goth one…I don't know if Gibbs would like that…That would probably be best…Yes, give Emily a hug for me…You're kidding, right? …You know I always liked you better than Katie…Yeah, I'm doing okay…Jared's fine…Okay…Love you too…Bye."

"Diane calls you?" Gibbs raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah. We're pretty good friends."

Gibbs grunted.

Piper laughed, "You don't talk much, do you?"

On their way back to Gibbs' house, with Ranger in the backseat, Gibbs began explaining the rules to Piper, "I've got some rules, Piper."

"Yeah, DiNozzo told me. Well, he only told me Rule #23. He said that if I'm living with you, it's the best and most important."

Gibbs laughed, "Also remember Rule #12."

"Oh?"

"Never date a coworker."

They were silent for the rest of the way home. When they got to Gibbs' house, Piper went into the bathroom, washed off her makeup, brushed her teeth, changed into her pajamas and pulled her hair into a messy ponytail. She came back downstairs, iPod in hand and went to get something to drink.

Gibbs was busy putting sheets on the couch, "This is as good as I can do until I fix the spare room."

"It's fine," Piper said. She drank her juice in silence.

"Gibbs," she said, "Did you kill him?"

"Who?"

"The piece of crap that killed my dad."

Gibbs looked down, "No. No, I shot him in the arm, but it wasn't fatal. He got away. I was too busy trying to save your dad."

"When you catch him, I want to talk to him."

"Why?"

"Let's just say that I inherited my dad's knack for interrogation."

Gibbs laughed, "Abby tells me you dance."

"Yeah, it was Katie's idea, but when she left, Dad used to dance with me in the kitchen. He was an amazing ballroom dancer, believe it or not, but he couldn't do urban to save his life."

"That doesn't surprise me a bit," Gibbs chuckles, then continues, "I've never really seen Fornell as anything other than an agent. What was he like as a dad?"

Piper thought for a minute, "Unconventional. I mean, most dads read Cinderella or Green Eggs and Ham, but dad didn't. He had so much work, but he wanted to spend time with me, so he told me the stories of the cases as he filled out the files. They gradually got more and more graphic as I got older, because he wanted to teach me that the world is a nasty place. You know how most dads would play Barbies with their little girls? Not my dad. He bought me a nerf gun pistol and had me chase him. When I caught him, I had to read him his Miranda rights!"

Gibbs laughed.

Ranger strutted into the room and jumped up onto the couch. Piper lay down next to him, "Gibbs, do you have any books?" The Marine nodded and pointed to the bookshelf. Piper got up and picked up No Easy Day by an anonymous Navy SEAL and settled back down onto the couch.

Gibbs left her there, reading, and went down to drink bourbon and work on his boat, which was going to be named Shannon.

**If you're wondering, Ranger is named after the Dunedain Rangers of Middle Earth! Review please!**


	6. Who's Kelly?

CHAP 6

**So, another chappie is here! Someone told me that Piper is pistol. I hope that's a compliment. I don't own NCIS, I only own my characters.**

Three weeks had passed since Tobias Fornell had died. Piper sat at her makeup station backstage of the dance competition she had mentioned to Abby. She placed a small picture of her dad on the mirror. She wiped away a tear as she reached for her makeup bag. She softly ran the eyeliner across her eyes as she awaited the call to come up and perform. Each dance team got one song to dance to, any genre, anything goes short of killing each other on stage. Their song was Riot by Tedashii. Being lead dancer, she dressed different and had bolder makeup than the other dancers. While the other dancers wore simple, black pants and tee-shirts with "RIOT" written on them in blue, her shoes and pants were black, and she wore a bright blue tee-shirt, black chocker, black cuff bracelets, and a black and blue pinstripe fedora. She applied black eye shadow in silence and added bright red lip gloss.

"I found some friends," Piper turned to see Tyler standing behind her. Along with him were Ziva, Abby, Ducky, and McGee. DiNozzo had a dentist appointment and Palmer was taking Breena out to lunch. Ziva handed her some black roses, probably courtesy of Abby.

"Where's Gibbs?" Piper asked, "He said he was coming."

"He's interviewing a suspect and he said he'd be here," McGee said.

"He's not gonna forget, is he?"

"Do not worry. Gibbs never forgets anything that is important to him," Ziva said.

"Okay. You guys have to go, it's gonna start soon."

Tyler led them out then came back to Piper's side, "Should I tell them you like red roses?"

"It's fine. Besides, Dad was the one that brought me red roses."

"You ready?" Tyler held out his hand.

"Yep."

The first group went up, and it was only two people, dancing to some romantic Taylor Swift song. Then second group went up, six guys and one girl, dancing to One Direction's What Makes You Beautiful. Piper shuddered; she hated boy bands. The third group went up, dancing to the Beach Boys, Surfing USA. Tyler spun Piper around and danced a bit with her, knowing she loves the Beach Boys. Finally it was their turn.

Everyone got in position, pretty much Tebowing, but Piper had her hat in front of her face. The song began and everyone danced in slow motion. It appeared as though it was a fight between two gangs, Piper leading one, and Tyler leading the other. They danced as though they were fighting, and at one point, Tyler picked Piper up and threw her across the stage, only to be caught by her fellow dancers. But in the end, Piper's group won the "fight" and her team ended with a huge pyramid, with Piper on top, in a position like she had just sucker punched someone shorter than her. Tyler's group ended all sprawled on the ground, with Tyler crouching below Piper's closed fist.

Piper looked totally victorious until she looked out in the crowd and saw one empty seat. Gibbs' seat. Her smile faltered for a moment and she did her best to recover, but in vain. Back behind the curtain, Piper was furious. When the teams were announced, they got second, beat out by the boy band dancers. The NCIS team came up to congratulate the kids.

"Take me to NCIS," Piper said to Ziva, shortly.

"He probably just forgot," Ducky said.

"Right, cuz Gibbs never forgets what's important, right?"

"Come on," Ziva held the door open and turned to Ducky, "I know this look, my mother used to give it to my father when he wouldn't do what she wanted. There is no use trying to convince her otherwise. It is like trying to talk to the ceiling."

"I think you mean talking to the wall, Ziva," McGee says.

*A short—but very fast—car ride later*

Piper burst into the squad room. McGee and Ziva joined DiNozzo, who had an icepack to his jaw, at their desks.

"Gibbs!" Piper shouted, "What the freaking heck?"

"Calm down Piper," Gibbs didn't look up.

"No! I'm not gonna calm down. You promised me!"

"I missed a little dance recital. There will be others."

"It wasn't a recital! It was a state-wide competition! The audience voted! We lost by a single vote! You could have helped Gibbs!"

"Piper, I'm new to this whole 'Dad' thing, so cut me some slack!" Gibbs stood up and looked down at her.

"I don't need a dad! I had an amazing dad! Right now, all I need is a friend! But apparently I'm not good enough for that! Sorry about that!"

"Don't apologize! It's a sign of weakness."

"Do I look like I care? And while I'm at it, I'm sorry my dad up and died and dumped his daughter on you! I'm sorry I screwed up your perfect little life! I'm sorry I'm not as perfect as you want me to be!"

"Stop apologizing!" Gibbs was turning an angry blood red.

"I'M NOT DONE YET! I'm sorry that I'm not the girl you wanted, I'm sorry I brought my dog to your house, I'm sorry that your life isn't okay anymore, I'm sorry that—"

"STOP APOLOGIZING, KELLY!"

Piper started, "Gibbs?" but he turned and left, quite quickly. Piper turned to the team.

"Ducky." The three of them responded in union.

Piper started towards the elevator, walked in and pressed the button for autopsy. As soon as the elevator started, she hit the emergency stop and pressed her head against the cool metal. She sank to the floor and began to cry. She hit the button again and wiped her eyes, well aware that she was smearing her makeup. When she got to the floor, she walked into autopsy swiftly.

"Hello Piper, oh, dear, what's wrong?" Ducky said.

Piper looked at Jimmy. "I'm going to go clean…something," and he left abruptly.

"Gibbs called me Kelly," Piper said, "Who's Kelly?"

"Oh dear," Ducky said, "oh dear, oh dear, oh dear."

"Yeah, we've been over that."

"Kelly was Gibb's daughter. She was murdered when she was eight years old by the leader of a drug cartel who Gibbs then killed."

"Why would he call me that?"

"Perhaps you remind him of her."

"Maybe. I should talk with him." Piper thanked Ducky, turned and moved towards the elevator.

**PLEASE REVIEW!**


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